Tag Archives: Paranormal Convention

Alright, as promised I am here to tell you all about the awesome First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention that was presented by Society of the Supernatural! It took place on Saturday, June 16th at the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino in Wheeling, West Virginia. The night before was a Meet & Greet at the haunted Bellaire House located in Bellaire, Ohio (where my husband and I slept for the two nights that we were there). Did we have ghostly encounters? Yes! Were we scared? I’ll get to that a little bit later…..

It was nearly a fifteen hour road trip leaving from our home on the Gulf Coast of Alabama. We left late Thursday, the night before and drove all through the night headed northbound. Along the way, just a couple hours south of our destination, we detoured to Point Pleasant, West Virginia. We were really excited about this stop. Why? Because it’s the location of where the Mothman was seen at the time of the Silver Bridge collapse that happened on December 15, 1967, killing 46 people. Now for those of you who aren’t familiar with who the Mothman is, he’s a man-like creature with red glowing eyes who has wings. There was even a film made about it titled, The Mothman Prophecies starring actor, Richard Gere. (It’s a great film if you haven’t seen it, so be sure to check it out!) Before we got to the Mothman Museum and site of the statue, we drove across the new Silver Bridge. It was so surreal just being there!

After we left Point Pleasant, we continued on route to The Bellaire House in Bellaire, Ohio. When we arrived, we were immediately drawn to the location. As we walked to the door, we were greeted by paranormal investigator, Dave Spinks who introduced us to the owner of Leprechaun Productions, David Weatherly and singer/songwriter, Sean Austin. Then we were encouraged to walk around The Bellaire House to take a gander for ourselves. The house is definitely a historical one dating back more than a century with its beautiful hardwood floors and high ceilings. The stairs creaked with sounds of yesteryear as we ascended the old staircase leading to our room. My husband and I stayed in a bedroom known as “Emily’s Room” that’s to the left at the top of the stairs. Emily is supposedly a little ghost girl who resides there. She didn’t die in the house, but it’s said that she had drowned in the nearby Ohio River many years ago.

My husband and I tried communicating with Emily’s spirit and did get a little interaction with a small light-up ball. It wasn’t extremely noticeable, but the vibrational energy surrounding the ball when we were talking with Emily was obvious. There was slight movement that barely rocked back and forth. And my husband and I were the only ones in the room while this was happening, so we knew for sure it wasn’t either one of us who moved the ball. Emily’s presence was light and non-confrontational. We really think she liked having us there.

Later that evening, everyone gathered for a fun Meet & Greet. By this time more people had arrived. It was really great getting to meet so many new people! Kristin Lee, owner of The Bellaire House was such a gracious hostess. She greeted everyone with her warm, charismatic smile! Paranormal researcher, John Zaffis was also there. He joined in with the paranormal investigating that took place that night.

Several people gathered in the basement, some had investigative equipment while others simply used their intuitive gifts. Sean Austin was using a handheld device and when he looked at me through it, he could see that the top of my head was being touched. My response? “Yeah, I know….. It’s a presence that I picked up from the corner behind the hot water heater.” My husband was like, “What?! Because I felt like I was being touched, too!” It was in the same area of the basement that my husband felt something very lightly touch the top of his head as well. He kept looking up for any kind of reasoning, but couldn’t find anything. That’s when a paranormal investigator named, Mike proceeded to tell me about the paranormal activity in the basement. With his ghost box, Mike helped me speak with the entity that I had encountered in the corner. It was a presence I felt very strongly and could see going back and forth behind the hot water heater. The entity seemed curious, but with great caution. We asked its name and then heard on the ghost box, “James”. Mike continued to tell me that there is a spirit, possibly of a former slave, that stays in the basement. (The location has history of being a part of The Underground Railroad.) We asked a few more questions and also told James that we were there with a great deal of respect and that we appreciated him talking with us, as briefly as he did. We didn’t feel any kind of malevolence, just curiosity from our side and his. My husband and I were new to James and he was simply trying to get a glimpse of who we were. We owe thanks to our new friend, Mike for helping us to communicate with the inquisitive spirit.

As the night went on, several of us went to the attic where we encountered more spirits. Got lots of flashlight interaction when questions were being asked and even heard some EVPs with the use of investigative equipment. That Friday night was definitely quite the experience!

The next day, all the guests who stayed at The Bellaire House woke up early to a delicious home cooked breakfast. The energy was still full of excitement from the night before. Then, we were all off to be a part of the First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention presented by Society of the Supernatural in Wheeling, West Virginia at the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino. I felt honored to have been a VIP there with signed copies of my novel, The Spirit Within! I also had several of my latest creations, “Witch Upon A Star” beautifully displayed on my table! My husband was proudly by my side and together we enjoyed every moment of the convention, meeting even more people! It was truly fascinating being able to hear the wonderful speakers at the event as well! The speakers included: John Zaffis, Rosemary Ellen Guiley, David Weatherly, Dave Spinks, Kristin Lee, Ross Allison, Sean Austin, Stan Gordon, and Eric Altman! The turnout at the event was beyond amazing!

When we left the casino, my husband and I returned back to The Bellaire House. We were the first ones to arrive. After we finished eating the food that we picked up from take-out, I went into the kitchen to wash my hands. And right before entering the kitchen door that was located on the right, just straight ahead was the area where the basement door was located. It was at that exact moment, before I entered into the kitchen, that I got this overwhelming dark feeling. It was nasty and wicked. I could (with my mind’s eye) see this horrible, shadowy presence just lurking and looking at me. It was hunched over in a deceptive way. Immediately I called upon my spirit guide, Mary and the angels for the quick protection of white light. I continued to go into the kitchen to wash my hands (yes, I did… my hands were greasy from the pizza! And for anyone who knows me, I can’t stand anything to be on my hands. LOL) Anyway, I rushed out of the kitchen, walked back into the dining room and blurted out to my husband about what I had just encountered. He believed me and remained by my side, making me feel assured that everything was ok. Whatever it was that I had seen didn’t try to hurt me, it didn’t even move from its spot. All it did was lurk in that same area as if trying to eaves drop on me and my husband having our dinner and then, just like that, it was gone! A few minutes later, more guests started returning back to The Bellaire House. Kristin Lee’s personal friend, Carrie asked us if we had any paranormal experiences while we were alone. When I started telling her what I saw, she immediately blurted out that she had encountered the same exact thing before! That gave me even way more goosebumps and it also validated what I had seen. I asked if it could have been the spirit of James that I had spoken with the night before and I was told no because there are several spirits in the basement and the dark presence was one of the darker ones.The whole experience was intense to say the least!

The night was drawing near and everyone gathered together for one last paranormal investigation. (And let’s just say that I didn’t go near that basement door anymore after what I had seen about an hour before.) Several of us went back up in the attic again. Just like the previous night, we witnessed lots of flashlight activity when we asked our questions and also got lots of responses on the ghost box. We spoke with three spirits who said their names were Lucille, Henry and John. They seemed to have been kind spirits with absolutely no harmful intent. I actually think they really enjoyed us being there because of all the interactions we received from them.

It was getting late and everyone decided to wrap things up for the night. Again, we graciously thanked the spirits for speaking with us and closed the session up with a prayer of love and gratitude. After we all had gone to our rooms, my husband and I were laying in our bed (which was on the second floor directly underneath the attic). As we were talking about all the excitement, we heard a brief dragging sound in the attic like furniture was being moved! That was physically impossible because we were the last ones to leave the attic! No one was up there!!

So, is The Bellaire House haunted? I don’t care what anyone else says, all my husband and I can do is speak from our own personal experiences and YES! The Bellaire House is haunted!! There is a mixture of energy there. Not all the spirits are bad. There are beautiful spirits at the location that just aren’t ready to move on (for whatever reason), but there are also dark presences there that I definitely wouldn’t want to piss off!

Are we going back? You better believe it!!! Next year when the Society of the Supernatural hosts another supernatural convention, my husband and I will definitely be there without a doubt, and ready to stay at The Bellaire House again!!

The new Silver Bridge in Point Pleasant, WV. (The location of where the Mothman was seen at the time of the Silver Bridge collapse that happened on December 15, 1967, killing 46 people.)

Statue of The Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV.

Statue of The Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV.

Me with the statue of The Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV.

My hubby with the statue of The Mothman in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

At the corner by The Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, WV.

The haunted, yet beautiful and historical, Bellaire House in Bellaire, Ohio.

The stairway going up to the bedrooms at The Bellaire House in Bellaire, Ohio.

“Emily’s Room” at The Bellaire House. (The bedroom where my hubby and I slept.)

Another bedroom at The Bellaire House.

Going down the stairway at The Bellaire House.

On the front porch of The Bellaire House.

My table where I sold signed copies of my novel, The Spirit Within, at the First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention presented by Society of the Supernatural in Wheeling, West Virginia at the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino.

My table where I sold signed copies of my novel, The Spirit Within, at the First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention.

My table where I also sold my handcrafts, “Witch Upon A Star”, at the First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention.

OMGosh…. Can you believe it?! At the end of this month will be four years since I created this site! Where has all the time gone? So many wonderful things have happened! I’ve had the awesome opportunity to meet tons of fascinating people, make amazing new friends and have had the honor to be a very special part in some pretty fantastic events! Last September I was a vendor at the Gulf Coast ParaCon in Biloxi, Mississippi. In November I attended the Paranormal Diaries Film Event in Sauk Centre, Minnesota and just this past weekend I was a vendor at the Society of Supernatural Convention in Wheeling, West Virginia (An upcoming article with photos about this trip will be published soon…. 😉 ).

And…. another event this coming November in New Orleans. Be sure to stay tuned for details about that one…. super exciting!!! Also, a quick SHOUT OUT to each and every single radio show that I’ve had the absolute honor to be a guest on!

All the while, staying busy working on my next novel and writing articles that you say you love! It is always such a pleasure receiving the positive feedback from all of you! I am extremely blessed every single day because of everyone, a big humongous THANK YOU!!!!

So, a VERY HAPPY 4 YEAR ANNIVERSARY to sheilareneeparker.com and all of you for making it happen!!! TOGETHER WE ROCK!!!!!

This will be the first annual event presented by Society of Supernatural! It’s going to take place this Saturday, June 16, 2018 at the Wheeling Island Hotel Casino in Wheeling, West Virginia from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. General admission is $10 and the doors will open at 11 a.m.

“The event is open to all, however YOU MUST BE 21 years of age to enter the Wheeling Island Casino gaming areas.”

Friday night, June 15th, there will be a GOLD VIP Private Meet & Greet Gathering at the Bellaire House. For more info about the awesome meet and greet please visit thebellairehouse.webs.com.

This will be the First Annual Mountain State Supernatural Convention presented by Society of Supernatural in Wheeling, West Virginia, scheduled on June 16th with a Meet & Greet the night before! Super excited!! Hope to see you all there!

Today I’m welcoming Dave Spinks and Kristin Lee who are here to tell us about their exciting upcoming convention, Society of Supernatural! Thank you, Dave and Kristin for stopping by!

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Dave:I’m a military veteran of 9 years and retired federal law enforcement officer. I’ve been investigating and researching all aspects of the paranormal for over 30 years. I have recently delved into writing. I have a lot of experiences and knowledge over these many years of investigating strange phenomena and I feel it’s time to put it to paper.

Kristin: My name is Kristin Lee. I’m the founder and owner of the Bellaire House Paranormal Research Center, coined Bellaire House Tours, LLC. I work in the metaphysical field and also work with a large supernatural community whom collect paranormal data at the Bellaire House.

Why the paranormal?

Dave: Well the paranormal really changed my life due to several experiences I had as a young man, starting with a Bigfoot sighting I had in 1983 with my grandfather.

Kristin: I fell on hard times when my home was destroyed by two flash floods, leaving me homeless with two kids. I found the Bellaire House on a foreclosed list, I put in a bid to purchase the home, the bank accepted it and we moved in shortly after. It wasn’t long before I started noticing paranormal activity; but I blamed psychology from the flood, being over worked and the stress of rebuilding a life for my family until there was no more psychological explanations. I’m interested in afterlife communication, and collecting paranormal data to prove or disprove there is something more than what a conservative middle class society taught me. There are things that I’m unable to explain, unexplainable things not only I, but many who gather with me, can’t explain either. There are so many profound things that add up if you pay attention – it’s like I’m being spiritually led. I think the most important thing I’ve learned from this metaphysical/paranormal research is that there are no coincidences.

You’re a paranormal investigator. What kind of locations do you investigate and what’s been the scariest one so far?

Dave: Yes, well I investigate residential locations as well as commercial locations. However, I investigate hauntings, cryptids and ufo sightings anything in the supernatural realm is game for me because I feel a lot of it, maybe interconnected. I really don’t have a scariest location, each one is different and many have been unnerving in their own way.

You’re an author, metaphysician and owner of the Bellaire House, a location known for its paranormal activity. Tell us a little about its haunted history.

Kristin: The land is part of the French and Indian war, there are Shawnee caves on the property for the mid 1700’s; we have heard others locals say their elders told them that the Shawnee held ceremonies behind the Bellaire House. Bellaire is known for “the house that jack built.” Which was built and owned by a hard working coal mine tycoon named Jacob Heatheringon, we have proven the Bellaire House to part of Jacob Heatheringtons land, as well as the Bellaire House was part of Jacobs family – his son Alex and granddaughter Lyde took over the coal company when Jacob died. We have recently learned Alex was committed to a lunatic asylum when the business failed, leaving Lyde, who died in the house from heart problems owner of the land. Her brother Edwin lived inside the Bellaire House with Lyde, but when Lyde died, Edwin became struck with grief and called upon spiritualist’s to come to the Bellaire House so he could communicate with Lyde. We also learned that Edwin lost a twin sister at a tender young age of his human development, which may have triggered him to question the afterlife when he was a child. We have heard rumors that the water was poisoned by a local man because his wife wanted to live in the Bellaire House but the family would not sell it. Jim Chase who is a former code enforcer, found maps that show catacombs, leaving a passage for freedom for the Underground Railroad to the Ohio River. There is documentation of a coal mine fire in portal 1, which Jacob Heatherington spent $8k to extinguish in the 1800’s. We have identified Jacob as being a leader of the Good Fellows, and holding private meeting in the lower chamber of his home. In front of the House is the Ohio River which coincides with leyline that create portals or doorways to the paranormal. We have recently discovered very strong correlations to the Heatheringtons physical & psychological well being. Historically the house has had many owners as well as those who lived there as renters. The Bellaire House houses positive energy aside from some of the TV rating dramatic’s, but then the other side of the Bellaire House is not positive & it can be dangerous, some people call this demonic- so the Bellaire House crew works hard to keep the energy neutralized to try to be proactive against negative energy. We have had many teams come to investigate the Bellaire House for definitive paranormal activity, and most have gathered some very profound & unexplainable video data, concluding paranormal activity does exist. It has taken us thirteen years to gather data to be able to say that paranormal activity exists. Our next research is trying to learn how the activity manifests.

Together you both are working on an exciting upcoming event, Society of Supernatural.

Dave, can you tell everyone when the event will take place and how people can get tickets? And also, what’s the itinerary for the day of the event?

Dave: Yes, the first Society of the Supernatural Convention will be taking place on June 16th from 11 am to 6pm, at the wheeling island casino and resort in wheeling WV. There will be guest speakers , To include John Zaffis , Rosemary Ellen Guiley , our own David Weatherly, Myself , Kristin Lee, Ross Allison, Sean Austin. Also appearing Stan Gordon, Eric Altman. There will be many meta physical people, psychics doing readings haunted location owners and people who run the locations to include Willows Weep, Bellaire House Octagon Hall, Kusciosko County Jail, Guyer Opera house and more. Several paranormal radio shows, paranormal groups of all kinds. Also, after the event is over Sean Austin Will be performing live music at the venue . You can get tickets to the event by going to the Bellaire house facebook page , go into the events page and find the conference page. You can also buy tickets at the door.

Kristin, the day before the event there will be a “Meet & Greet”. Can you tell everyone about that? And where will the “Meet & Greet” take place?

Kristin: Dave called me one afternoon and asked me to help him coordinate a supernatural gathering in Wheeling, WV. We say supernatural because we wanted to not limit ourselves just to paranormal. We believe that all unexplained should be considered “supernatural” because we work with so many people in the field who are not just paranormal investigators. We also wanted to open the conference up various people who work as metaphysicians, psychic’s, cryptozoology, ufology, hauntings, paranormal, demonology, authors, location owners, teams of researchers, and healers. We also wanted to gather together with like minded people to share our work & start building a strong network of rapport with our peers. In the past I coordinated psychic fairs at the Wheeling Island Casino, Wheeling, WV, so I suggested to Dave we start the conference there. David Weatherly & Spinks asked me to join the Society of the Supernatural, (SOS) because of my work and experiences from the Bellaire House & we have other members of the SOS spread across the world.
Friday night is a private meet & greet at the Bellaire House with the speakers of the convention, plus we will also be holding a small & intimate Investigation at the Bellaire House with the speakers of the conventions. We opened up a six VIP tickets for guests to join us. Info for VIP tickets is in the website. thebellairehouse.webs.com. Meet & greet is 6pm-8pm and then the Investigation is 8pm-12am – we have an early morning and a very long day on Saturday.

This is the first one of many to come. What’s the inspiration behind creating the event, Society of Supernatural?

Dave: The inspiration for the event is to bring together like minded people in the field to network with one another, share stories and experiences swap information . It is also focusing on people who live this life for real, people who have a genuine passion for the research and in the search for answers to some of man’s greatest questions.
David Weatherly and myself created Society of the Supernatural 4 years ago with some of these ideals in mind and its starting to take shape and grow on its own.

Where can paranormal enthusiasts find all the exciting updates for Society of Supernatural?

Dave: If you love the Supernatural realm you won’t want to miss this one! We’d love to meet each and every one of you and hear your stories and experiences. See you there!

Kristin: We have 15 vending tables available at $50 per table. We provide an 8 foot table and chairs. There is an application that needs to be submitted for vendors simply to keep the type of vendors even- we want to keep things fair as possible & not have a overflow of specific vendors. We have capes 2-3 vendors per category to keep the event balanced. VIP meet & Greet tickets are going fast. Lodging for the event is at the Wheeling Island Casino Hotel. Saturday after the convention we will remain in the show room for a public after hours party where Sean Austin will be playing music.

Kristin: It is said by many locals of Bellaire that Jacob had this monument of Eliza placed at Greenwood cemetery with her back turned against Bellaire because of how the locals disrespected her. Jacob built the mansion for Eliza so she would feel acceptance by the village of Bellaire, but when he held parties the locals still shunned her. Eliza was a faithful Christian Women who taught Jacob to read by using the Bible. However, she followed in her mother’s footsteps and worked as a bar maid and cook. Back then, people frowned on women working in a pub. Non true rumors state Eliza is holding a spell book, but she is holding the Bible as she stood firm of the gospel of Christ.

Kristin: In March of 2017 after we aired on TV, we received so much attention someone decided to buy the bankruptcy note to the Bellaire House and hung $50k over our heads to keep it. After months of fighting with the persons who bought the bankruptcy note, we were able to get them to lower the debt to $35k and that was when we brought in Jon Campbell as our business partner. We raised money for the cause of saving the Bellaire House, and the debt pushed back the restoration of the Bellaire House, but we saved it thanks to Jon Campbell.

As far as we knew I had filed the bankruptcy, walked away to start a new life. Jim Chase, the code enforcer at the time called me and told me I was responsible for the property, the upkeep and I owned it and my name was on the deed still. Once we aired, a mortgage company contacted me demanding payment for the bank note and when they called that was when we found out the bank never foreclosed the properly. Years had gone by and I had been keeping up on the property, taxes and everything that goes along with it until I received the call demanding payment- that’s where John Campbell asked to become a partner to help save the house.

Kristin: Many local people have called Kristin a fraud and liar about the Bellaire House, some locals don’t believe in the paranormal and have gone beyond disrespecting Kristin Lee as they once did to Eliza Heatherington. It’s a shame that if anyone dares to be different in Bellaire the uneducated pitchforks point to the sky by the hands of some very cruel people. This is proof that the Bellaire House is a historical location, and Jacob A Heatherington was a resident. The family is large so historical data is a on going process by Rebecca Star Garden.

Kristin: The fire 1893. Coal mine portal #1 is currently visible, which proves the fire under the Bellaire House, and the coal mine portal runs from Pinch Run to St.Johns Catholic school.

Kristin: We have extended the convention hours due to the great amount of interest & para community support. The convention will be 11am-9:30pm. Vendors need to be present to set up at 8am and be ready for the doors to open at 11am. The scheduled speakers will be present at the Bellaire House Friday, June 15 for the VIP private meet & greet/Investigation and are scheduled to speak at the convention during the following times: